Does Thread go bad......?????

[flytire 0]

in my 40+ years experience in fly tying, ive never noticed thread going bad

i tie indoors with no uv rays in my tying room

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Maybe I'm a primitive but if I have the slightest question about the thread I'm tying with (and I even use 4lb or 6lb mono at times when needed) is to simply break a sample or two in my hands (or after taking a few anchoring wraps on a hook) to see how it holds up.  If it doesn't feel right in hand my next step is to compare it to a brand new spool to see what difference I find, if any.  Remember as well that bobbins don't always come properly made with smooth, polished barrels and a bad bobbin can make any thread look weak and worthless.  I must admit that mostly, whenever I discard a spool of thread it's usually because the color on it has faded badly enough to be noticeable... 

 

Maybe I have an advantage over most since I never buy any thread one spool at a time.  My usual course is to buy a box of anything I'm needing (that's 12 spools per box) - and every box is kept in a tightly closed drawer until a particular new spool is needed.  Any spool of thread that's been used never goes back into new stock either.  Used spools, not currently on a bobbin (I keep seven or eight bobbins in a stand ready to use) is in a rack on the wall next to my bench so I can see at a glance exactly what colors are available - and in what thread size.. Of course unlike freshwater tyers I'm using a bit heavier thread (Danville's flat waxed nylon mostly, along with a similar range of colors in 3/0 Monocord for smaller flies).

[dave 0]

I had always read to never store your waders in the basement if that is where your washer, dryer, furnace, etc are as all electric motors give off ozone which will deteriorate the rubber.

Probably other rubber products that shouldn't be stored near electric motors either but I'll leave that for another thread and another time!😀

[chugbug27 0]

Thanks for posting @BHouk. Takeaway: 80+ years lifespan out of sunlight for quality thread, including silk. No need for plastic baggie storage or humidor. If you can't tell whether it's your thread, your bobbin tube, or perhaps even one's own age and decrepitude, slowly pull the thread until it breaks. If it snaps it's you or the bobbin, if it shreds it's the thread (and maybe only the top layer). Not sure I buy it either, but he's the "threadologist"!

Another interesting point or two elsewhere in their "education" dept...  They recommend (and sell) polyester mono and polyester serger thread over the traditional nylon (polyamide) versions because nylon yellows and becomes brittle with age. They do mention (and sell) one nylon thread in particular (Charlotte's Fusible Web) that melts & fuses when heated to 250°, and remains flexible -- might make for an interesting affect as the body (extended or otherwise) or head or even thorax on a fly. 

[SilverCreek 0]

Nylon can weaken just from aging alone according to this study. Note that the OP's tying thread was 20-30 years old.

The study below showed "This is about a ~1.45% decrease in strength relative to the original breaking strength per year." When this is approximated to 20-30 years for the OP's tying thread, it is about a 30% - 44% loss of strength from aging alone without and UV or other environmental effects.

http://itrsonline.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Evans.Truebe_Strength-Loss-Due-To-Aging-of-1-Inch-Tubular-Nylon-Webbing-paper.pdf

[Mark Knapp 0]

25 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

Thanks for posting @BHouk. Takeaway: 80+ years lifespan out of sunlight for quality thread, including silk. No need for plastic baggie storage or humidor. If you can't tell whether it's your thread, your bobbin tube, or perhaps even one's own age and decrepitude, slowly pull the thread until it breaks. If it snaps it's you or the bobbin, if it shreds it's the thread (and maybe only the top layer). Not sure I buy it either, but he's the "threadologist"!

Another interesting point or two elsewhere in their "education" dept...  They recommend (and sell) polyester mono and polyester serger thread over the traditional nylon (polyamide) versions because nylon yellows and becomes brittle with age. They do mention (and sell) one nylon thread in particular (Charlotte's Fusible Web) that melts & fuses when heated to 250°, and remains flexible -- might make for an interesting affect as the body (extended or otherwise) or head or even thorax on a fly. 

I've wondered about the fusible threads. Does that mean you heat the whole fly to 250 degrees? That scares me. But I scare easily.

[chugbug27 0]

Yes, 250°... Apparently thin hair singes at 200°.... My thought was to get a hot curling iron near enough to melt it....

For heads, use a hackle guard

For extended bodies melt them before attaching (after ribbing with polyester thread)

For thorax... Maybe just move the eye of a hackle guard back and forth over the thorax to let the heat through, sort of like burning light into dark areas of photos in b&w development.

Ideaman plans yet another future project...

🙄

[Mark Knapp 0]

8 minutes ago, chugbug27 said:

Yes, 250°... Apparently thin hair singes at 200°.... My thought was to get a hot curling iron near enough to melt it....

For heads, use a hackle guard

For extended bodies melt them before attaching (after ribbing with polyester thread)

For thorax... Maybe just move the eye of a hackle guard back and forth over the thorax to let the heat through, sort of like burning light into dark areas of photos in b&w development.

Ideaman plans yet another future project...

🙄

All good thoughts. I did a similar thing using acetate floss and acetone. I got some pretty cool effects. It also glued the fly together without adding glue. It was fun.

[chugbug27 0]

😎

[imaxfli78 0]

OK...all these snap....can someone take a new 3/0 and pull it...does it snap kinda easy??????

[chugbug27 0]

Just tested, and it was not nearly as hard to snap as I thought it would be. 

[imaxfli78 0]

Thank you sir..and that was a new one? I guess I'm gonna have to go buy a new one(but how do we know how "new" it is) and try it myself....... maybe they are just not a s strong as I imagined....mine do "snap"!

[Moshup 0]

If threads hang out with a bad crowd it’s inevitable that they will go bad !

[chugbug27 0]

31 minutes ago, imaxfli78 said:

that was a new one

Purchased it within the last year, online retail

[Bill_729 0]

5 hours ago, imaxfli78 said:

Thank you sir..and that was a new one? I guess I'm gonna have to go buy a new one(but how do we know how "new" it is) and try it myself....... maybe they are just not a s strong as I imagined....mine do "snap"!

I tried adjusting my bobbin a couple of times, trying to convince myself it wasn't the thread.  But in the end, a direct comparison of new thread versus what I had made me replace all that I had.  The sooner you buy some new thread, the happier you will be..trust me.